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Council homelessness bill hits £8m a DAY as 177,530 children are trapped in temporary accommodation

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

The cumulative cost of housing homeless families in temporary accommodation has hit £13bn since 2020-21, with annual council spending up 88% in five years to a record £2.93bn.
The cumulative cost of housing homeless families in temporary accommodation has hit £13bn since 2020-21, with annual council spending up 88% in five years to a record £2.93bn.

English councils spent a record £2.93bn in 2025-26 on temporary accommodation for homeless families — more than £8m every day. The cumulative cost since 2020-21 stands at £13bn, with annual spending up 88% over five years; two-thirds of last year's total went on B&Bs and nightly-paid hostels, rated the least suitable housing for families. A record 135,580 households are now in such settings, with 177,530 children among those affected — itself a record.

Crisis chief executive Matt Downie called the system 'ruinously expensive,' warning it 'traps people in a cycle of insecurity' and demanding housing benefit be unfrozen immediately.

B&B costs alone jumped from £711m to £822m — despite the government pledging in June to reduce use of emergency settings.

Shelter's Mairi MacRae said councils are 'forced to waste billions' on private companies instead of building the social homes that would end the crisis.

MoreInside HousingHome - Council spending on temporary accommodation rises to record £2.9bn - Inside Housingbigissue.comCouncil spending on temporary accommodation at nearly £3bn - bigissue.comlocal.gov.ukLGA response to new figures on temporary accommodation spend - local.gov.ukThe IndependentTemporary accommodation spending hits new record highlocalgov.co.ukCouncils spend £8m a day on temporary accommodation - localgov.co.uk
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